AC Transit workers rejected contract deal

OAKLAND -- AC Transit workers' rejection of a proposed labor contract over the weekend has put the bus system back on uncertain ground some two weeks after a tentative deal had averted a threatened strike.

Union leaders announced Sunday that AC Transit employees voted down the contract agreement decisively, with 576 against the deal -- almost 70 percent -- and 257 supporting it.

Buses continue rolling with no date announced for talks to resume.

"Our members spoke out loud and clear," Yvonne Williams, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192, said of the results in a written statement. She was unavailable Monday to elaborate.

The union's leadership had recommended approval of the tentative contract, which was announced less than an hour before workers were prepared to strike at midnight on Aug. 6.

The contract provided a 9.5 percent pay increase over three years, but it also required workers to begin paying a share of their medical insurance premiums, $70 a month in the first year, $140 a month in the second, and $180 in the third.

AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said Monday he had no comment because the union hasn't formally notified the district of the vote results. The union announced the vote results on email news releases and Facebook posts.

Meanwhile, BART said no dates were set to resume in contract talks for the train system.